BRIDGETON, Mo. (KSDK) - The sound of progress in Bridgeton is made with the churn of bulldozers and hammers. It is music to the ears of those behind MLMC or Materials Lifecycle Management Company.

The Massachusetts firm buys products like non-recycled paper, coated paper and wood pallets. Instead of local businesses paying to send this stuff to the landfill, MLMC will pay them, to take it off their hands.

Then, it's ground up and made into cubes to serve as fuel at coal-burning plants.

"We can run alongside with coal, or become the primary fuel and essentially eliminate coal altogether in certain types of applications," Jim Ladue, MLMC's business director said.

An international lime company out of St. Genevieve is MLMC's first client in Missouri. Ladue says the plant will convert an estimated 60 percent of its coal use to MLMC's enviro-fuelcubes.

Ladue says it's a business plan that will not only cut down on carbon gas but also keep an estimated 160,000 tons of product out of local landfills each year.

Jack Murphy is the Material's Director for MLMC. He's been pitching his company to local businesses in hopes of signing them up as suppliers. He wouldn't specify what specific businesses had signed up yet.

"We've signed on a very large grocery store in the marketplace. We also have some fortune 500 companies," he said.

NewsChannel Five contacted Ameren Missouri to see if they would be interested in MLMC's product.

We learned the two companies have already had talks. In a statement Ameren said: "Ameren Missouri is constantly exploring new and better ways to meet our customers' energy needs in a safe, efficient and environmentally responsible manner. We have spoken with MLMC about its fuel product. Currently, it is premature to discuss its use in our energy centers."

Hiring the first 50 employees is already underway. Salaries will range from $16 an hour for unskilled labor and up to six figures for managers. They will pay for most of your healthcare and the plans offered are the same for laborers as for the company's senior executives.

MLMC didn't ask for a dime of taxpayer money, and will open late spring.